Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-25

COrcOraD, resides, and square further up +,
H street is the comfortable home Of the
venerable historian, George Bancroft.
Coming back down the street and passing |
the Hay residence we may see the home
of Senator Don Cameron, the old homes
OF James G Blaine, Hamilton Fish, Fer
nandO Wood and dozen other celebrities.
But why need we view exteriOrs, no
matter how interesting, when welcome
door stands open and hOspitable most
waits US. SO we retrace our steps and
passing under the bread arch to the vestl-
bule we press the electric bell and soon
stand in the wide, COmmOdiOus hall. 1t
is in itself one of the most beautiful in
teriOrs st the capital. The broad stair
wav with it's carved balustrade, the rich
! brussels carpets and the valuable oriental
rugs in which the foot sinks to the ankle,
all do their part toward making up
beautiful effect. The hall is finished In
| light mahogany, the walls and ceilings
being laid off in little blocks. This wood
! is very rare IN this country, coming from
the interior of South America. 1t mas to
be carried for miles across wild, unset
tied country, which adds much to the cost
of procuring it.
To the right is the library. The trim
broidered portieres and enter the large
well-lighted room. 1t is by far the larg-
est apartment in the house, though none
OF them are small. 1t extends nearly the
full length of the house. Colonel Hay
saws he believes in using the best rooms
of the house for living purposes and not
keep them shut up except when there are
visitors. So it is that the library and
workshop is also the sitting room, and
as the colonel works at his desk his
children are often at play about him,
and their merry laughter keeps time with
their fathers swift gliding pen. The
room is one to feast the eyes upon. Easy
chairs, luxurious lounges, lazy settees,
little hooks and crannies, low bookcases
surmounted with busts and filed with he
choicest editions of the classics, valuable
Jars, unique vases and bric-a-6rac from
every land under the sun are all about.
The walls are hung with costly paintings,
exclusively in Gil. The most valuable is
g magnificent Mater Dolorso, over two
centuries old, which occupies the place
? of honor.
At the end of the room, furthest from
, the door, Is Colonel Hays desk. AS l
: enter the door he rises to greet me and
/ with a warm grasp of the hand bids me
be. seated. On the WnOie prepOsesSIES
/ gentleman, but you would not think
HIM the possessor of 100000. form
l slender and small, quick, nervous move
1 ments, : full beard parted in the
= middle, and bright brown eyes that
} look earnestly at you through steel.
8 trimmed glasses. This is the ensemble OF
the man who Is now writing the life OF
t Lincoln which is being read by every
] body. And his is the ideal place in which
t to write Of the great war President.
: From the desk where he writes can be
seen the White House, where he lived
/ with Lincoln so many years, and all
g around his nome are locations and build
e ings that hold stirring memories of these
q days of civil war.
d Hay works methodically on his book,
( though he does not give many hours a day
b to the real desk work. Rising in the
I morning at O'Clock he is at his desk by 8
D He works on until II, and sometimes,
! though rarely, in the afternoon and even
e lug. 1t is now nearly quarter of cen
n tury since John G.. Nicolsy and John
c Hay commenced work on their elite OF
. Lincoln" They determined upon II